Picking ticks off of Oakley is a daily thing now, and will be for many months. He's so incredibly good for it, and stands perfectly still even when I'm working around his eyes and tickly muzzle. I was happy to see his cowbird friends back today--they weren't on his back like last summer, but strut around in the wake of his massive hooves and pick up the bugs he disturbs--reminds me that I wanted to write a post about commensalism and some cool examples I've seen in the last while, but I'm lacking the time and creativity apparently this week, so I'll put it on hold for a bit.
I have one fleece almost skirted, and 5 more to go. G built me the skirting table last night so that will help speed things along quite well. (like I've said before---any excuse to use his new mitre saw)
I might have made a mistake with sheep training...but I couldn't resist...Last night while I was petting Lace I stood up, patted my lap with my hands and said "up up!! like I used to do with my GSD Gwen--and Lace looked up at me with her funny brown and gold eyes and she knew exactly what I was asking--she reared up and planted her pointy hooves on my thighs and I squealed "GOOOD GIRRRRLLLLLL!!!!" So I repeated it a few times.
People tend to think sheep are stupid, mostly because of their flocking instinct, which overrides just about anything else. But that is certainly not the case....I do miss working with dogs, and especially my brilliant and wonderful Gwen, but working with flight/prey species brings many new challenges and surprises, and I really do enjoy it.
When Glenn got home tonight he had replanting of tomatoes to do while I continued working on the fleece, then we walked a few of the pastures to see if the fertilizers had broken down yet, checked on the trees he planted, said hi to the Wedge crew who came running out to see us, and then I showed him my new trick with Lace, since part of him I think didn't believe my story...She's quite the clever little lass ; )
Still waiting for the forecast thunderstorm to hit--the frogs are anticipating it and have gotten very loud out there in the field! Last year we sat out on the porch during some really wild storms to watch the lightning. Pretty awesome! Looking forward to doing that again-as long as there isn't a tornado risk...I still get a little creeped out when the tornado sirens go off on the first Tuesday of every month.
But for now it's not really a risk, so I'll enjoy the moist wind that reminds me of home and the ocean.
Hiya! Anything Oak can go out in to cut down on the ticks? They're so nasty!
ReplyDeleteMust hear more about Winston and see pics! Can't wait for them to spend some time together. I really hope Oak is a gentleman.
Have some great pics of the sheep in Spain. They were amazing - living on almost vertical hills in the coolest farms. will share when more organized! you would have loved it there.
Spain sounds amazing!! glad you had some vacation time and it wasn't all work...
ReplyDeleteI got some bug cream to put on his face and to keep his nose/blaze from getting sunburnt--the ticks seem really sensitive to my regular bugspray as well. I might try putting the cream on his tail dock and see if that keeps them from taking hold. My neighbour told me she has the wonder cure so I'll have to get her recipe : )
I have a few pics of Winston on an earlier blog post--you can see his brand on his hip from his early days as a ranch horse. I hope they get along too..Feeding hay will always be separate anyway (so Oak won't steal dry hay of course) but I'd love to see them out grazing together : ) Whenever I've ridden with my neighbour Oak has been very well behaved, whether it be geldings or mares, so hoping we can keep building on that. Looking forward to your pics!!